CS:GO has always been one of Ukraine's most popular esports. This was facilitated by the history of NAVI, the fame of s1mple, and many local figures who constantly supported the scene. Monte is the crown of a new generation of Ukrainian pro-players, which has gathered young talents, experienced but not yet old veterans, and the necessary inclusion of legionnaires from abroad. In the current lineup, the Ukrainian club started "farming" online tournaments one by one and quickly earned the public's attention.

Today's main challenge for the team is to pass the RMR qualifiers for the last CS:GO Major in Paris. On the eve of the event, we spoke with Sergiy DemQQ Demchenko and captain Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk about the team's mood before the tournament and the path they took on the way to it.

It's funny that the club got its name in honor of Woro2k's hometown: Monastyrishche of the Cherkasy region.

Everyone from Monastyryshche is simply called out city Monte in surzhyk (a mix of Ukrainian and Russian languages). That's how the organization's name appeared. [The organization itself appeared when] I met a person, we sat down, got to know each other, and later there was an offer to create the organization.
These are young guys, crypto-investors. It was just much easier for them to explain everything because they are 25-26 years old or something, yes, and they can play both Dota 2 and CS, and it became interesting for them, and how - then we agreed on this, that we would start [the organization].

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk  

And the bet paid off. Since its founding in 2022, Monte has already won more than $100,000 - most of this amount came this March, during which the team won four online tournaments, including the ESL Challenger League Season 44: Europe, which allowed the team to enter the ESL Pro League Season 18.

The organization's current success is mainly related to the roster formed in November. Then the roster's core was formed: Woro2k, DemQQ, and kRaSnaL. Next, the Jordanian BOROS returned from the inactive, and the current team was formed after the arrival at the beginning of 2023 of Viktor sdy Orudjev, who was kicked out of NAVI. Since then, Monte has truly become one of the most dangerous teams online.

Woro2k became the team captain. This is his first experience with such responsibility, but as Volodymyr admits, he was interested in in-game leadership long before Monte.

I always spoke a lot in all teams. I liked to give a call when I played in MAD Lions, I liked to give a call there, a mid-call in the middle of the round, but we were looking for a captain. But when players were tested, I realized there was no point in hiring anyone, so I took on this responsibility.
This is not a big thing. Well, it happened that you could lose your focus somewhere individually and so on, but it's all in your head, and it's not an excuse to undershoot or underplay. It's all in your head.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk  

When asked what captains Woro2k looks up to, the Ukrainian quickly answers that there are none, but at the same time, he notes which captains of top CS:GO teams interested him.

I like how Heroic plays. Not their style but how they play. CadiaN charges the whole team on LAN. The way he shouts is a good feature for the captain to help the team morally. ApEX is the same - even though it underplays, it charges the team and players very strongly, confidence is greater, and everything else. In general, this myth is so peculiar, the time will just come when it will be debunked, and that's it. Captains can be the best players.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk  

Sergiy Demchenko highly appreciates the leadership qualities of his captain:

He has an understanding of the game at the tier-1 level. He can give such a call, which we do not have in our strategy, based on what we did and how the opponent reacts. This is the key aspect. This is the first time a person knows his strategies, but he can give calls outside our strategies. I really like his unconventional thinking. There is also such a topic in tier-1 of the captains.

Sergiy DemQQ Demchenko

Despite the difficult situation with the energy supply in late autumn and winter in Ukraine due to constant Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Woro2k and DemQQ were able to adapt to the situation.

We created all the necessary conditions, bought generators, DemQQ moved to Monastyrishche, he lived here, we rented an office, we even played together for a while, and we had no problems with it. Sometimes the light or the Internet would go out, so we got used to it so much that we already had two Internet accesses and two generators, so there were no problems.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk  

War leaves an imprint on everyone. During the interview, DemQQ recalled his first trip abroad after the start of the war.

When I first went to Romania for the Ukrainian national team, we got scared when we saw the plane. It was still the beginning of the war, and we were going to the tournament from the hotel. We heard a sound and were already looking at the sky where the rocket was flying. Now, we live 10 minutes from the airport in Poland, and planes constantly fly. Of course, it is far from what it was, but it reminds us of what is happening in Ukraine every time. Although it is quiet in Kyiv now, drones and rockets are still flying.

Sergiy DemQQ Demchenko

It is obvious that after somedieyoung and the LMBT coach joined the team, something "clicked.” The team played better with each match, and, of course, we couldn't help but ask Woro2k and DemQQ about it.

Well, we haven't scored much yet, we can do much more, there are so many mistakes and so on. We need more time for training. I think we will have time to prepare everything we need for RMR. I knew right away that we would start playing 2-3 times better in a month or two because of a new stack, and before that, we were unplayed.
We try to find a balance with LMBT - this is the most important thing. Because the coach has his vision of the game, and I have mine. We all have disputes, but we come to one thing sooner or later. Before the matches, the theory is ready. The coach prepares his part of the theory – analysis of mistakes from the previous game, for example, adding a couple of rounds, which we discuss with him, and I also prepare.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk 

According to DemQQ, the joining of Viktor sdy Orudjev was the key for the team.

Vitya [sdy] and lmbt have only been on the team for two months, and they have made a big impact during this time. Vitya makes a 300% impact because he does a lot. And Serega [lmbt] makes a lot during theories, analysis, and demos. He singles out some moments and says that if you fix them, it will be even better than now. We work on these points and fix many errors, but they still exist.
We have redistributed the roles a little, and, sdy in this regard, did pretty well. He is a high-caliber player, he used to play a defender, and now he can play any role because his level of knowledge allows him to play any role except the sniper. He took on vital roles that required a profound understanding of the game.

We won a series of tournaments not because we had hype and we needed to figure out why we won. We know why these teams win, and that's the whole point. We know how and why we win. LMBT helps us understand this very much.

Sergiy DemQQ Demchenko

According to Demchenko, it is difficult to describe the impact of sdy on the team accurately. But Orudjev becomes the player who comes to the rescue at a difficult moment in the match.

He does so much that it is challenging to do so much work on the server - it is trivial when he pauses to say something. He is such a person that if something doesn't work out for us, he can take responsibility into his hands and say: "Yes, guys, we need to do this and that." So we did it, and with each circle, we believed more and more. This is about 0.5% of what he makes. It's very cool when you have a tier-1 player and learn a lot from him, and it becomes much easier for you to play.

Sergiy DemQQ Demchenko

March 2023 was successful not only for the team. For DemQQ, it ended with first place at FPL. However, there was almost no time left for banal rest for Demchenko. Will he "burn out" at the right moment?

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I don't know how it affects me. I am somehow indifferent. I know that I need to train, what I need to work on every day, and everything.
Last month was very difficult. First, I woke up and went to the gathering, where we watched something for an hour or two. Then we have 4-5 works, and if there are no official games, we finish at 8-9 p.m. After that, if I had the strength, I would have played FPL. Last month I played FPL and took first place, finishing every day at 3-5 a.m. All this is for the sake of making me individually stronger.

Sergiy DemQQ Demchenko

The Ukrainian sniper doesn't play as many FPL games as his teammates, but that doesn't mean he's sitting on the sidelines. The role of IGL obliges the player to engage in individual training, analyze past matches, and work on tactics, which takes a lot of time. According to Veletnyuk, doing just what is necessary is also essential.

In terms of time, we have training from 6 to 8 hours, sometimes 9 plus a break. They play about 60 FPL monthly, plus 2-3 games on average daily. For example, I play a little FPL. I can sometimes play FACEIT. I watch there for 3-4 hours daily and can watch demos or prepare a theory.
And at such a stage, this is how it should be: do not relax, play more, and also remember so as not to burn out, which is also very important. We only have an official for one bo3 a day; after that, we have nothing. After that, we can watch a demo, and everyone can go. So it is good and useful after 3-4 matches in FPL. That's how it should be at a similar level of play.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk 

LAN doesn’t scare Woro2k. On the contrary, the absence of ping at offline events is much better than dealing with online. The difference in pings compared to rivals, and the delay in BOROS, the Jordanian star rifler of Monte, is very noticeable, which will naturally lead to the fact that, in some aspects, the offline team’s performance will be even more accessible.

Yes, for me, it's much better to play on LAN. Plus, BOROS’s ping is 65-70ms, and mine is 50-55ms. So, we play against people whose ping is 20ms. I never thought it was a significant difference because I played LAN or at home. It is clear that in the first case, the ping is the same for everyone. Recalling four years ago, then individually, I feel better on LAN.
Why have we never won anything at large LANs? Because we always had inexperienced lineups, we could have a stronger roster in general. We needed more confidence, and the team was still very green. And now it feels different. We had already played together for over a month, and we checked everything, which boosted us 100 percent, and we played a lot of practice.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk 

It is twice as important to prepare for RMR than for other tournaments. Otherwise, you won't get to the Major. During preparation for such an important event, you can overdo it and get tired before time. However, burning out in a couple of weeks in the race to enter the dream tournament differs from Monte's style.

If you look at groups A and B, they are somewhat different regarding the teams' level of play, but I wouldn't call it a "group of death." We don't just want to go to the Major but to show a good result, so it doesn't matter what group we are in, and we have to go to the Major from any group.
If Monte were in group A, the fans would be more confident attending the Major. However, this is not a reason to squander, which DemQQ agrees with.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk 

You just have to play your game and make fewer mistakes. We will pass the Major if we do all the right things.

Sergiy DemQQ Demchenko

There is no doubt that BLAST.tv Major Europe RMR will be the biggest challenge for Monte in its current lineup. This is more than just a chance to go to the last CS:GO Major or an opportunity to play against strong opponents on LAN. This qualifying tournament will be a test for the entire team, after which it will finally get rid of the status of a "dark horse" and, ultimately, in its own right. The words of Woro2k himself confirm this.

Our centerpiece will be our history. A mixed team with a completely new organization, after many victories and defeats, which in any case will rise to the top level.

  Volodymyr Woro2k Veletniuk